#it’s such a key part of the show to me

[gldnstrngs]

the way merlin and arthur speak with their eyes is so beautiful

[wuntrum]

their asses are NOT WORKING (refining) but also NOT WORKING (trying to get gemma outta there or do anything against lumon) either 😭😭😭😭😭 guys please...

[myoonmii]

I keep thinking about Merlin’s love for Arthur and how it’s so clearly portrayed in the show to the point that it practically drives the plot of the show. However when it comes to Arthur’s love for Merlin it’s more subtle and sometimes difficult to even grasp, and I started thinking why that was, aside from the obvious fact that Arthur has a lot of trouble expressing his emotions affection or otherwise. I think it also lies in the fact that Merlin knows Arthur intrinsically throughout the show; he is one of the closest people to Arthur, and sees him for who he really is. Arthur admits as much.

Sure, Arthur knows Merlin but the main part of the plot is that he really doesn't know Merlin. Merlin wants him to desperately understand him and “see me for who I am” but he can't yet. And I think this subconsciously creates a barrier in the way in which Arthur can care for Merlin, and how Merlin can let himself be seen by Arthur.

Which is why I think he was also so hurt when the magic reveal happens because more than the betrayal of Merlin having magic, it was the betrayal of Merlin not letting Arthur see him for who he really is and for hiding a main part of himself. Arthur says it himself “why did you never tell me” that’s what hurt him the most.

I think the most damning piece of evidence for this is the fact that while we see snippets of Arthur’s feelings for Merlin thought the show, the biggest signs are in the last episode after the magic reveal; in which he finally gets to understand Merlin, and this time REALLY know Merlin, and as the barriers of what held them back from understanding each other truly fall away, Arthur evidently “falls in love with Merlin all over again”. We see him actually express himself to Merlin.

This is another reason why I think if anyone was ever to create another season of Merlin after Arthur’s return, it’s physically impossible not to make it about Merlin and Arthur acknowledging their feelings for each other. Because there is no way forward without them acknowledging how deeply they care for each other, obviously anyone is free to argue what kind of love that is, but its impossible not to see the deep love there either way.

They always knew they loved each other, just maybe never realising how much and what that means, because its almost second nature to everything that they do.

[dunmeshistash]

Laios Revealed in Five Keywords

5 keywords section from the Adventurer's Bible, this is transcribed from the EHScans translation for more info you can check this post. My own notes will be at the end of the post.

1. Family

Laios' family consists of his father (the village chieftain), mother, and little sister Falin. A talented mage, from a young age Falin possessed a mysterious power that allowed her to hear the voices of the dead. Others found this ability creepy, and she found herself the target of persecution because of it. Since Laios' father chose to expel Falin from the village instead of protecting her, Laios' animosity toward him has led to them not meeting for over 10 years. His mother is mentally frail and prone to being bedridden; it seems that Laios is not on good terms with her either. Incidentally, the reason why Laios looks so tidy is because at one point he grew out his hair and beard, but Falin mentioned that he was starting to "look a lot like Dad"

2. Monster research

Due to his love of monsters, others recommended that Laios become a monster scholar. However, academia presented an insurmountable barrier to Laios, and he soon gave up on that path. From most to least interesting, the types of monsters he likes are: Dragons = Animals > Magical Beings > Plants > Insects > Undead > Spirits. There is a monster scholar Laios respects, but the person in question likes to spout ridiculous, groundless theories about monster, other scholars steer clear of them at academic conferences. However, Laios is rather fond of those crazy theories

3. Unexpected Talent

As he's copied the drawings of monsters in his Monster Field Guide countless times, Laios is very good at drawing monsters. However, he's terrible at drawing anything else. The (overstuffed) "Ultimate Monster" that Laios came up with is a hybrid of: rhinoceros, bull, bird (2 species), bat, snake, horse, boar, and tiger.

4. Military Deserter

Laios enlisted in the military after graduating from school; it was there that he learned his fundamental swordsmanship skills. However, the army's regulations didn't sit well with Laios, so he ran away. He joined a caravan that passed through town, as they let him ride along with no fare so long as he helped with odd jobs. Even after he arrived at the island, Laios earned his living expenses doing things such as helping to load and unload cargo at the harbor.

5. Ban on Romance

After seeing his dungeon party nearly fall apart after two members fell in love*, Chilchuck warned Laios that workplace romances should be forbidden. Though Laios met his fiancee once and thought she was cute, the engagement was broken off after he ran away from home. Apparently, the woman in question is now a mother of three. Incidentally, since Laios' current savings are only enough to purchase a single horse and several goats, trying to find a bride would likely be a difficult task for him.

------

*I believe this was translated this way before the extra that explains the situation came out, the official translation translates it as "In the past, developing intimacy within the party led to a crisis that nearly broke it up." which I don't know if describes it better? Here's the original text "過去に仲間といい仲になりかけて 、パーティーが解散の危機に見舞わ れたため" as far as I can tell (considering context) it's something like "due to him getting too close to a companion the party nearly fell apart" but I can't really tell.

Stats

Timelines

Official version bellow the cut

[kradogsrats]

the first of a new breed

[pumpkinrootbeer]

Eugene was truly the best boyfriend. saw his girlfriend get broken up with, and immediately had a revenge glow up. Imagine being Cassandra seeing your ex girlfriend's boyfriend and he's wearing a golden choker with the just deepest v neck known to man, the world's sluttiest gloves, and a thigh garter. I'd have to give up then and there.

[firstkil]

wanting you to know if that you aren't writing haymitch absolutely battered by his grief and also rendered weak by his alcoholism (see; tremors for example) i want you to know that you're doing an awful job. i want you to know that he is not the flirty, sarcastic mentor-type character you've assumed of him but shrunken, hermited, awkward, sarcastic to cope, pained and absolutely ultimately his own savior throughout it all.

[sforzesco]

crassus & pompey (sometime during sulla's civil war, in spoletium)

it's uhhhhh about pompey and alexander the great and the cynic epistles bit about hephaestion's thighs altho in this case the thighs are how crassus could bring pompey to a political standstill when he wanted to. in a narrative, politics can be a dialogue adjacent to foreplay and sex or something. etc etc. the general 'you're the only motherfucker in this city who can handle me,' and odi et amo of it all.

The Defeat of Rome: Crassus, Carrhae and the Invasion of the East, Gareth C. Sampson

(also many thanks @illegible-scribble for telling me about hephaestion's thighs and adding several new layers of Thoughts to All Of This)

society6 | ko-fi | twitter (pillowfort, cohost) | deviantart

[ghostzzy]

just. having a continually very difficult time reconciling my physical and emotional realities right now. but i'm really really trying to internalize that living with my mom can be challenging without being constantly bad.

[hibernating-stag]

I think the big sticking point for me personally about Venom's bakery is that baking isn't a skill someone can pick up and immediately be good enough at it to open their own bakery.

... This leads me to believe the implication is that this was just. A secret hobby Venom has been dabbling in the entire time that went unmentioned. That's so good-

[meep-meep-richie]

I’m happy for Ke Huy; but i feel like Owen is robbed here; cause he slayed in S2 of Loki. But you know what bothers me the most?! The hate Owen mostly get for his roles; which i think is absolutely ridiculous; but whenever he actually does an amazing job he never gets the recognition either…cause someone else always did better..just give credit where credit is due🙏🏻

[jupiteristaken]

Mia And Me

omg dose anyone else rembember the show Mia and me?? Like it was such a slay, i found it again on youtube and asdflhdsifhadsil sooooo good, the theme song slaps

[camellcat]

you ever realize you never properly learned how to say a character's name, so by the time you finally HEAR it, you have no idea who they're talking about? cause I feel like I keep doing this and it's very confusing to keep being corrected like that

[bookshelf-in-progress]

Number of stories I would like to write: Many.

Number of stories I find myself able to write: Zero.

[proveagain]

i rewatched s6 p2 earlier this week with my dad, and sorry i'm gonna ramble again because going from the frustrated scenes that lead to the locker room blowup -> the plane heart-to-heart with j.ohnny -> the 'you're a natural leader' convo with r.obby after he lands just feels SO clunky... i thought it was just because i had binged all the eps at like 2-3am that first night, but now i can tell there's at least one or two scenes in there that they cut for time. i'm not disagreeing with m.iguel's reaction to the 'you're my son, too' line because i know that's been something he's been needing to hear since after prom in s4, but the show insinuating that m.iguel's frustration is solely because j.ohnny has been favoring r.obby over him (i know whatever scene that was got cut for time bc ... vine vc bitch where) comes out of nowhere???

firstly because the 'support' j.ohnny gave r.obby didn't make it off the cutting room floor (i know he's not talking abt part 1 bc j.ohnny made a point to be unbiased and support m.iguel and r.obby evenly before the captain qualifier), but also because feeling ignored by j.ohnny was never even hinted to as a motive for the desperation m.iguel has with the captain spot in 6 part 1. he and r.obby had figured out their shit from that type of thing in s5 (another thing the writers tell instead of show but that's a rant for another time). his whole desperation for winning the taikai is that m.iguel thinks it's his only shot at swaying the stanford admissions board. he was giving d.emetri a run for his money in the 'shut tf up abt college' race in 6 part 1, and he was so preoccupied with his plan to get noticed and change the board's mind that he completely ignored and invalidated r.obby's feelings.

the main reason he's upset with j.ohnny - and with everything at that point - is that everything comes back to that lack of control he's felt on and off since season 3. j.ohnny just finished telling everyone that the results of the taikai could have them 'regretting everything for the rest of their lives' (get that '84 guilt out of here), right after telling m.iguel that his own victory on the mini platforms didn't mean shit (the only time where m.iguel did feel ignored by j.ohnny, and it wasn't to hype up r.obby bc j.ohnny sat there yelling at everyone in the locker room after), and that he the rest of the team were still going under. they're on the way back to los angeles because his mom got rushed to emergency surgery, another thing he has no control over. there's a couple lines from j.ohnny about 'not thinking like that' when j.ohnny's sharing his worry about not having control re: c.armen's situation, but i don't think that was stressed nearly enough to progress his narrative and show that correction. ideally, i think doubling down on that with a heart-to-heart with c.armen in the hospital about m.iguel fearing the risk of something happening to her again would have done that really well.

that mention of the real motive was also missing from his pep talk with r.obby after he gets back to barcelona, watered down to 'oh i was being an asshole sorry,' and i think it was a disservice to the bond they keep trying to say m.iguel and r.obby have had since s5. a lot of their 'fixing things' convos get watered down to the most basic shit, when the very core of their 5+ season conflict has always been abt miscommunication. they deserved a longer scene talking about both m.iguel and r.obby's frustrations before m.iguel started hyping him up, and i know they glossed over it because of time.

tldr: if i had a dollar for every time a character got cheated because of the short eps + cluttered character roster i'd have enough money to buy the show myself

[scionshtola]

i kinda wish ppl would let go of the “and it’s supposed to be killing shtola to use her aether to see” just bc that’s not what was intended by “life force” and they’ve made that very clear and also more and more ppl exaggerate it like “the VAST amount of aether it takes for her to see” who said that…